[DeTomaso] BJ Insurance Experience

[michael@michaelshortt.com]

Dave,

Happy to answer,

I pay 608.00 per year for the Special Interest Cars/Motorcycle Policy
segment

Pantera is at 70,000 ( not 65,000 as I listed, that was two years ago, my
mistake)
MB 450SL at 15,500
Porsche 944 at 10,000
70 Mustang Mach 1 at 20,000 ( under restoration off site)
2003 VTX1800 Retro at 10,000
2008 VTX1800 Neo at 14,000

total coverage at 139,500 which comes out to less than half of 1% ( .oo44%
)?

IF you are paying 190 with State Farm, I'd say that you are a getting mostly
liability and medical
coverage and will have a B%$#h of a time if you have a collission or
comprehensive problem, a local car club member here
also had State Farm and they offered him $2,200 for a totaled out K Code 65
Mustang fastback with 289 HiPo.

If Haggerty wants $390 for 40,000, that's equal to almost 1% per year or
twice why I pay per dollar of protection.

I know that you guys have street cars too, give Amy a chance, I'd bet that
you could save even more if you moved them all.

Michael



On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 1:43 PM, Dave McManus <dave at damardirect.com> wrote:

> Great read!
> If you don't mind, how much is your Pantera insurance cost. Haggerty wants
> about $390 (annual) for 40M , I am currently paying $190 (annual)with State
> Farm but I am really getting nervous about how I might get treated if there
> is an issue.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: michael at michaelshortt.com [mailto:michaelsavga at gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2010 8:31 PM
> To: DeTomaso Forum
> Subject: [DeTomaso] BJ Insurance Experience
>
>  I referred to this in an earlier email today, so here's the whole story.
>
> Early last year I received a flyer from Barrett-Jackson that they were
> going
> to start insuring (through a partnerships with others) Classic Cars.
> Since my Hagerty Insurance would be expiring in a couple of months I
> thought
> I would give them an opportunity to provide a quote.
> They were super polite, eager to have my business and seemed overtly
> excited
> about cars and the people who drive them, a very different experience than
> I
> was accustomed, even with Hagerty personnel.
>
> Their quote was approximately $300.00 per year LESS for my small collection
> of 4 "Special Interest" cars, the Pantera, the MB 450SL, The 944 and the
> 1970 Mustang Mach 1.Then I asked if they also wrote insurance on regular
> cars, the answer was again YES, I asked them to quote the Magnum RT, the
> Excursion and my wife's CRV, they saved me another $300.00 per year over
> AllState.  Then I asked if they could also provide Motorcycle Insurance,
> they said yes!  I was with Progressive Insurance, The BJ quote was 50.00 a
> year cheaper PLUS I now had agreed upon value, since the bike cost $12,995
> new and I added a bunch of stuff to it ( about 4K total  ), I selected
> $13,199 in agreed upon value coverage given that the bike was already 5
> years old,  Generous to be sure, but it only had only 2,700 miles on it).
> Then I asked if they wrote Business insurance and darn if the answer wasn't
> YES again, in fact, their insurance referral person worked with me for over
> a week to ensure that I got everything I wanted for a very specialized type
> of business, it includes $2,000,000 liability, water, fire, theft, E & O,
> vandalism and $250,000 in contents plus $2,000,000 inland marine ( for a
> production company ) for general insurance, equipment rentals, projects in
> production and location coverage. All combined was over $2,000 per year
> cheaper than what I had been paying.  Still not finished, our house
> insurance was coming up for renewal, AllState again, and I gave BJ an
> opportunity to quote it as well.  They came back with a quote with more
> coverage, including riders for guns, jewelry and cameras and were still
> over
> $2,000 per year cheaper.  The only thing they wouldn't insure was my wife's
> fancy sewing machine/computer ( Bernina ) because they said they didn't
> have
> any history with a $15,000 sewing machine on which to base their quote.
>
> To say that I am believer in BJ's new insurance program would be an
> vast understatement, within 6 months they had all of our insurance coverage
> except for life and health,.  All combined as a result of switching to BJ,
> I
> am saving over $4,500 a year.
>
> Doubters out there, keep reading.  All well and good since the money was
> going one way so far.  Then came October 3rd.
>
> Some of you may remember that I reported a motorcycle mishap in TN, the VTX
> was damaged and my ankle broken.
> I called BJ the next day from TN, they asked if I was OK first.  Sweet!
> Then we talked about the bike, I explained what happened and they said to
> get a quote for repairs, so I took the bike to a local Honda dealer
> in TN while I was there to get a repair quote.
>
> I had no idea my ankle was broken, I just knew that it hurt.  I make the
> drive back to Georgia with the VTX on a trailer
> (same way it got there) and parked it in my garage.  BJ called again after
> I
> sent the quote and photos to them and informed
> me that they needed to send an adjuster to see the bike in person since the
> repair quote was over $5,800.
> No problem, he was coming in 2 days, he came, he inspected, he took photos
> and was very, very nice.
>
> Meanwhile, my ankle had now turned black and blue I finally went to the Dr.
> 6 days later, had it X-rayed and to my surprise
> my tibia was in 2 pieces! I was awarded both the "Ironman" award for
> walking, riding and driving 14 hours using my broken ankle as the gas foot
> and the "Moron" award for the same feats ( no pun intended).
>
> Two days later, BJ called me back and let me know two things, one that my
> Dr. office called and I had 10,000 in medical coverage for my ankle
> expenses
> and 2) that they were going to total my VTX since the book value was
> now only 6,000.
> If this had been Progressive several months earlier, I would have had a
> $1,500 deductible and received approximately $4,500 and had to give up the
> remains of my bike.  Not much I could have done with that to replace my
> bike.
>
> But this was BJ Insurance, I was told that I would be getting the agreed
> upon settlement amount of  $13,199
>
> My mouth fell open.
>
> I have never totaled anything in my life, my deductible was ZERO.
>
> I asked how much it would cost for me to buy back the remains of my bike,
> they called back in two hours and told me $1,000.
>
> I said, yes to that and then the paperwork started to flow.  All I had to
> do
> was mail them my license plate and title and I would be paid in a few days.
>
> It took 9 weeks to settle the claim, 8 weeks of that was my fault and I'll
> explain why.
>
> 1) I couldn't find the title ( stupid )
>
> 2) The lovely state of Georgia said that I could order a new title and it
> could be there in 3-4 weeks......oh no, wait.
>
> Nope sorry, we can't do that either because we show that the bike has a
> lien
> against it from American Honda Finance.
>
> I said that the bike was paid for in full 6 months after I bought it
> and they said that before I could get a new title, I needed a letter from
> American Honda showing payment in full - no faxes and no emails on AHFC
> letterhead and stamped by a notary.
>
> So I called them and 2 1/2 weeks later, the letter shows up and was sent to
> the good folks at the State of Georgia
> and 5 weeks after that I got a new title.  That was mailed to BJ with the
> license plate.
>
> one week after that I got a check for $12,199.
>
> Meanwhile, I fixed the old bike myself for about $2,700 in parts (eBay and
> my brother who can get Honda parts at dealer cost) and $700.00
> for repainting the tank and fenders.
>
> The bike was set up with a sissy bar, saddlebags, etc. so that my wife
> could
> ride with me, so the balance of the settlement payment went to
> buy a new (year old model) VTX1800Neo (probably the last one in the country
> since the VTX1800Neo was discontinued in 2008 that I found one on eBay from
> a dealer who liquidates Honda's warehouse / closed out models) which is set
> up as a single seater.
>
> So as a result of the accident, very unplanned, I now have 2 bikes ( family
> style and solo style ) instead of 1, a healed ankle and a heck of a story
> to
> prove that BJ insurance rocks!
>
> And yes after the old bike was DMV inspected and given a new title
> and plates, BJ accepted and insured it again.
>  I changed the stated value on it to $10,000, because now it's 7 years old
> (even though it looks better than ever).
>
> My wife accused me of insurance fraud because she couldn't believe that it
> all worked out the way that it did, esp. because now there are 2 bikes in
> the garage instead of 1, and I'm smiling like the Cheshire Cat ( except
> when
> it rains, then the ankle still hurts a bit).
>
> To answer the question asked earlier, if my car had been consigned to R & S
> and been crushed under the collapsed tent this week,
> I would have been paid $65,000 (my stated value coverage), less whatever
> the
> buy back price would be if I wanted to get it back.
>
>
> If I had bought a car at auction, it will be automatically insured for 14
> days at the purchase price level until such time that
> I request a different value and agreed to the quoted premium.  So, if the
> tent had fallen on my new purchase, I would not have suffered any financial
> loss at all.
>
> Michael Shortt
> Savannah, Georgia
>
> two more things,
>
> First, I highly recommend BJ Insurance, I would encourage all of you to let
> them quote your toys and more. My new prem notice arrived last week and
> it did NOT go up at all as a result of the reported loss, only by the
> amount
> of the 2nd motorcycle that was added to the policy.
>
> Secondly, please know where your titles are located and make sure that if
> you ever finance a car or bike that you not only notify the state DMV and
> send a copy of the release, you should just go ahead and get a new title
> issued that doesn't show any liens at all to avoid confusion in the
> future.  The title that you are sent by the lien holder after a pay off
> with
> the cool little PAID or RELEASED stamped on it is NOT recorded with the
> state DMV.
>
> After this whole learning experience, I took all of my car and bike titles
> back to the DMV office and paid $8.00 each to have new titles issued
> showing
> no history of previous owners, liens, banks, etc.  Just in case...
>
> This is my BJ contact, she's amazing, sweet, thoughtful, very professional
> and even called to check on my ankle recovery several times.  Has your Car
> Insurance agent EVER done that in your whole life?
>
> Amy Spengler
> ASpengler at delpcompany.com
> Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Ins.-Servicing Agent
> The Delp Company
> 1440 Arrowhead Drive
> Maumee, OH  43537
> 419-794-1080
> 877-545-2522
>
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> --
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> Michael L. Shortt
> Savannah, Georgia
> www.michaelshortt.com
> michael at michaelshortt.com
> 912-232-9390
>
>
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>


-- 







Michael L. Shortt
Savannah, Georgia
www.michaelshortt.com
michael at michaelshortt.com
912-232-9390


This email is protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy
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privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified
that any retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this
communication is strictly prohibited.  Please reply to the sender that you
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